TOKYO – Yokozuna Hoshoryu wrapped up the opening week of the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament with a perfect 7-0 record and the outright lead after handling No. 4 maegashira Hiradoumi on Saturday.
The Mongolian-born grand champion maintained his one-win buffer over fellow yokozuna Onosato and three other wrestlers at 6-1, but ozeki Kotozakura (5-2) dropped from the second rung of the leaderboard with an upset loss on Day 7 of the 15-day tournament at Tokyo’s Ryogoku Kokugikan arena.
Having lost just once to Hiradoumi (4-3) in their eight previous top-division meetings, Hoshoryu looked momentarily to be in danger as he was driven toward the edge by the small and fast-moving maegashira.
The yokozuna demonstrated balance and poise, however, as he kept his feet inside the straw bales long enough to send his opponent tumbling to the sandy surface with a beltless arm throw.
Onosato blew away still-winless No. 3 maegashira Gonoyama in the day’s final match, sending him flying from the dohyo with a mighty shove that drew a big cheer from the fans.
Kotozakura came off second best in a pushing and thrusting battle with No. 2 maegashira Oho (3-4) after being spun around by the former sekiwake.
“My body moved well,” Oho said. “I’m not thinking too much about the number of wins and losses, I just need to keep doing that type of sumo.”
Ukrainian komusubi Aonishiki (5-2) showed impressive strength and footwork on his way to a push-out victory over sekiwake Wakatakakage (4-3) that leaves the Fukushima Prefecture native’s campaign for ozeki promotion on a knife’s edge.
Wakatakakage came into the meet needing 11 wins to reach the typical promotion benchmark of 33 victories over three tournaments as a komusubi or sekiwake and can most likely afford only one more loss through the remaining eight days.
Komusubi Takayasu (1-6) finally got off the mark with a push-down victory against another struggling veteran, No. 1 maegashira Abi, who remains winless at 0-7.
Talented 22-year-old No. 2 maegashira Hakuoho (4-3) got the better of sekiwake Kirishima (4-3), breaking the former ozeki’s armlock and forcing him out for his third straight loss.
